The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1887-07-14
Our Evening Sermon !

0uI AYolllllS Col ltVlt )
"Then shalt thou break the bottle
in the sight Of the men that go with
thee. ."-Jere. 80.
The Divine direction seemed to be
toward getting away from the then
sinful drift, and getting into better
state of things. This has always been
the need of the race 1t is very easy
for man to travel downward. The
prize to every human being is at the
top Of the hill. To reach and grasp
it often requires long, tedious and
fatiguing march. Yet, once turn the
attention and the heart away from it,
and the being goes down, with ever
accelerating speed, until the final crash
comes, far down, below the grasp of
human aid, or the reach of human
sympathy. The further down the
man, and the greater the speed, the
more difficult to arrest the attention,
or arouse the deadened sensibilities.
Once get the mind fixed upon the i'm
portance of the upward course, and
there seems to dawn new beauty in
the life, and greater nobility Of pur-
pose. It is pleasing sight to see
man who has once fallen far below
the plane upon which his friends had
hoped to find him, change his course,
give a new impetus to the life, and
take up steady determined journey
upward. But oh how indescribably
sad it is to see one who has once held
high place in the respect and conf
dence of the public, as we'll as the
warm friendship of an immediate cir
Gle of acquaintance, start on the
downward path. Once in the way,
the very best Of those who fall, seem
to seek the very lowest depths, in the
very shortest possible space of time.
Nothing seems too low and contempt
ible, too degrading and miserable, to
suit their tastes and purposes.
It is not enough for such men to
go down in their degradation alone;
they must ''break the bottle in the
sight Of the men that go with them
And it is their supreme effort and de-
sire to influence as many as possible
to go with them. There are some
points Of great, Of horrible import, to
be considered. beyond the mere fact of
going astray and leading others astray.
Beyond the treating in the social at
mosphere in the saloon" there rises
up train Of sorrow, of suffering, of
general ruin, which should be enough
to induce any man Of sound reason
ing capabilities break the bottle-not
by breaking the seal-but by breaking
it upon the guilty head Of the Offend
ing criminal who keeps the place.
The social treat means the broken
hearted family; themerry-making in
the den means tears and grief in the
cottage; the assertion Of manly
independence" in the public place,
means the severence OF social
ties in society. Yet in full knowl-
edge Of these facts, men who have
been blessed with every educational
advantage, men who have been hon.
ored by high calls of the public SER
vice, men who have been entrusted
with the conducting Of important pri-
vate business, will unblushingly en-
gage in such miserable and contempt
ible pastimes. What amazing and
utterly thoughtless impudenee is that
which appears before religious and
moral influences in an attitude Of en-
dorsement, and the offer Of earnest as
sistance, knowing that large part Of
that influence is aware that the same
representative of evil influences has
been, within the few hours previous,
and will be, doubtless, within the next
few hours, plunged into the filth, and
stencil, and general nastiness of the
dens where devils are created! This
is breaking the bottle in the wrong
way; this is breaking the seal of the
bottle, and moulding the seal of con-
demnation upon the soul. "What
will man give in exchange for his
soul?" Frequently but poor, little,
miserable glass of grog. For few
moments, or hours, or days, of ribald
ry, man of intelligence will sacrifice
neutrality-suspicious., friends, hopes,
even his immortal soul. 1t is not a
pleasant estimate to be placed upon
our intelligence as a people, and es-
pecially as Christian Nation.
We are told, repeatedly in the Sa-
cred Word, Of the dire consequences
of living in sin; we are fairly and fire.
quently warned Of the only possible
result of human wickedness persisted
in; we are given to understand our
duties regarding our own salvation as
well as the welfare Of our fellows; we
are told to look not upon the wine;
we are told to put not the glass to our
neighbor's lips; we are taught that
the sin of Intemperance biteth like a
serpent, and stingeth like an adder; in
addition to these warnings and teach
ings, we know from personal observa-
tion that these teachings are true, that
they are practically demonstrated ev-
cry day. The great seething wave of
destruction is rushing and rolling
along. sweeping in it's countless vic